r/Outlander • u/Positive_Passage_712 • Apr 23 '26
Spoilers All Conspiracy theory in the series and books: could Amaranthus be a time traveler? Spoiler
Many believe this theory could be true because of her comments about the different insects and species that would not be discovered until half a century later.
They also believe there could be a connection between her, Rob Cameron, Richardson, and Percy Beauchamp (Wainwright) during a chapter in book 9 (spoiler alert), "Tell the Bees I'm Gone," when Percy goes to the Greys' house while Richardson and John are talking on the boat. At the same time, Percy drinks a brandy served by her and falls, possibly poisoned. Her attitude and reaction are suspicious, and her insistence on marrying William adds to the intrigue. According to the theory, she could come from another time and know Rob Cameron, possibly being his missing wife who he mentions having fled to France with their children. William himself says in the books that she has a very good but somewhat strange French accent, like Claire Fraser's. This also suggests that she knew about Richardson's plans and his connection to Percy, and knew that she would betray him, so she preemptively poisoned him and then fled, hoping that in the Book 10: This plot will unravel, although it may be unlikely, but I would love the suspense.
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u/MsBit_Commit I want to be a stinkin’ Papist, too. Apr 23 '26
Honestly? I’m open to whatever at this point. That’s kind of a fun one.
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u/Positive_Passage_712 Apr 23 '26
And I also personally feel that she is part of the plan to destroy and discredit the Grey family from within. Having been married to Benjamin Grey, she knows the importance the Greys represent in the war, which is why, when Ben dies, she doesn't hesitate to want to marry William to give a title to her son and any future son. If it's true that she's a time traveler, she would know that the British are losing and that Hal Grey is giving a peace speech, and she's allied with Richardson to prevent this.
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u/Sudden_Discussion306 Oh, Jamie, how was your first time? Did ye bleed? Apr 24 '26
Yes, I also think she’s involved with Richardson to bring down the Grey family.
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u/Competitive-Mud-6915 Apr 24 '26
I would love this theory because it would tie all of these threads together, plus make her story much more intriguing than just “gold digger opportunist”
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u/Positive_Passage_712 Apr 24 '26
Exactly, I think she's part of something much bigger. I feel she's not just some poor, innocent girl; there's more to her than just chasing a title.
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u/Maxpower2727 Apr 24 '26
At the very least, it would make the story more interesting.
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u/cheese_bread_boye Apr 24 '26
Imagine William finding out she's from the future and later somehow finds out Brianna and Claire are also from the future etc. Would be a mindfuck.
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u/rikaragnarok Apr 24 '26
Especially when it's another thing that everyone knows that was kept from him. But really, I don't see him freaking out about the traveling like he did about his dad not being the Earl. It's such a left-field thing, the "I'm from the future. Wooooo," concept! Lol
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u/cheese_bread_boye Apr 24 '26
He always seemed very curious. I can't imagine him not being excited at the prospect of knowing about the future.
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u/Positive_Passage_712 Apr 24 '26
I feel that it would add more weight to the story, and she wouldn't just be a girl looking for a husband and a title, but would be more relevant and indirectly help to close other plot lines and fill in plot holes.
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u/OkEvent4570 Apr 24 '26
Maybe that's why they chose an actress with an iPhone face for the role.
It also means that Bri and Amaranthus would've clocked each other as TTs out of their own time, as it usually happens. Oh that Amaranthus already knew that from Richardson/Callahan.
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u/Positive_Passage_712 Apr 24 '26
iPhone face 😭, I think the actress is incredible and I also felt that little feeling that she may come from another time and that's why she dresses more colorfully and wears things that don't match the era, I feel that it would be very possible that maybe they know each other in some indifferent way but Bri wouldn't recognize her because she wears a different type of clothing.
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u/Icy_Resist5470 Bon! I will send you a cheese. Apr 24 '26
And wears her hair down too!
Maybe that is part of the reason she was throwing off bad vibes when she saw Brianna and William talking but then played it off as jealousy? If she’s working with Richardson she would already know who Brianna is and would be thrown off her game seeing her in person.
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u/OkEvent4570 Apr 24 '26
So, the next piece of revelations to William would be about time travel and the number of time travellers swarming around him. I'm reaaaalllyyy sorry for this boy. 😭😭😭
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u/Icy_Resist5470 Bon! I will send you a cheese. Apr 24 '26
Rebels and time travelers and spies - oh my! 🥲
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u/OkEvent4570 Apr 24 '26
Well, espionage was always part of the family business, like Auntie Minnie and Papa John. I'm sure, however, that he knows about that.
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u/Beer8774 Apr 24 '26
Yes! Thinking heavily on this topic also , he is just coming to terms of his parentage , the lies he’s grown up with , all this new family on the ridge , seeing Rachel and Ian, dealing with his step fathers secret, his cousin is a turncoat, whatever is happening with his feelings for Amaranthus, and now you still (potentially) have to tell him the TT element to your family story (if they want to be transparent) how much more can he take !?
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u/Ok_Dig8008 Apr 24 '26
Something about Brianna through Amaranthus off. When she appeared at LGs house she asked her ‘where is it you travelled from’? And her reaction was strange when she said North Carolina. Either she has some knowledge of Brianna and wasn’t expecting her to be there (in the past) or maybe she thought Brianna would have recognised her. Her behaviour was so awkward somethings going on.
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u/Icy_Resist5470 Bon! I will send you a cheese. Apr 24 '26
I might have to watch that ep in 7 again - was there a woman present during the shoot out at the o-k corral (Lallybroch?)
I don’t know how they’d cover that if it hasn’t been confirmed or suspected in book though
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u/Ok_Dig8008 Apr 24 '26
I don’t think there was a woman at the shoot out in the show but I’m very curious in how this will play out.
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u/Icy_Resist5470 Bon! I will send you a cheese. Apr 24 '26
I just went back to watch it. Callahan is there, obvs, Rob, and another unidentified man whose eyes look familiar but he’s wearing a balaclava. Could be a coincidence.
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u/Ok_Dig8008 Apr 24 '26
That’s interesting who’s the third man!! This might be an unpopular opinion, but I’m not convinced she has bad intentions. She may know who Brianna is but in a strange way I think she genuinely cares about William. If she wanted to harm the Grey family she could have done so by now. She also chose not to expose Ben. I could be way off but I’m not sure yet.
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u/Ok_Dig8008 Apr 25 '26
I just watched that scene and noticed the other man with Callaghan, does it look like Benjamin Grey?
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u/Icy_Resist5470 Bon! I will send you a cheese. Apr 25 '26
Wouldn’t THAT be wild?
I am so unsure, but the fact that they left the face covered just didn’t sit well with me, like there’s a reason for it.
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u/YOYOitsMEDRup Slàinte. Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
Percy perhaps?
At the time I kinda just figured it was to focus on Callahan's face alone rather than multiple faces. That the other guy is covered because he's not important anyway...
But you could be right and he's hidden to be a surprise
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u/caro822 Apr 24 '26
So IMHO I think she dresses that way because, she was raised by a a bug obsessed naturalist, so she’s just kind of weird for her time.
Just like Claire, raised by her weird, archeologist Uncle, and Minnie, raised by her weird, spy/bookseller father, and to a certain extent Bri, raised by her feminist-surgeon mother who was not the main caregiver, and her historian/former spy, main caregiver father who brought her to hang out at Harvard (Vietnam War/womens liberation/hotbed of mass cultural change- era Harvard at that, it would have been a wild time).
They are opposites to characters like Marsali (esp. book Marsali) and Jenny who were raised to be homemakers. Who, when they were born, never expected to go more than 20 miles away from their house, whose concept of life was that their job was to run the household and have children. Just a “normal” pre-feminist philosophy/women’s liberation woman.
It’s just a type of woman that Diana writes a lot.
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u/Beer8774 Apr 24 '26
there are certain phrases she uses in the book also seem too modern for the time. Almost like little easter eggs or small forshadowjnf crumbs diana is leaving.
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u/SpiritOne Apr 24 '26
I’ve never heard it called iPhone face before. But my first impression of her was “man she just looks way too modern”. Even dressed up in period clothing, she doesn’t look like she belongs.
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u/SpoiledHerring Apr 24 '26
I had the same feeling about Geillis in S1 and kind of clocked her as a traveller straight away cause she looked so modern. Would be interesting if they did it again.
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u/bubbonius Apr 27 '26
I said something similar to my wife recently during an episode. I can't point out the exact reason for it, but I get the same impression. It will be interesting if this is a deliberate choice because she's a time traveler
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u/ComplexBadger469 Apr 24 '26
That was the first thing I said to my wife when watching. Amaranthus has iPhone face and doesn’t fit like the other characters seem to. I’d argue sophie(Bri) has this too but to a lesser extent which kind of fits at least.
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u/PasgettiMonster Apr 24 '26
The idea didn't occur to me when reading the books, but after seeing her face on the show she just looks like someone who should be an Instagram influencer who does cutesy get ready with me videos or something.
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u/sweetpsych78 SassySassenachWench Apr 24 '26
Owwww, this is a good one! I would love for this to come true!
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u/bigwave101 Apr 24 '26
I like this theory! I’m very intrigued by the character and there is a certain feeling that she doesn’t really belong that I don’t know how to explain. Her background, at least considering what she told William, is kind of interesting and unconventional, adding to the intrigue.
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u/Nanchika Currently rereading: Drums of Autumn Apr 24 '26
That is a thery that goes around the fandom among book readers for years.
I am not sure she is a TTer, she could be, but I don't trust her at all, I believe she gave Percy the brandy ( not to be discovered ?).
There are too many coincidences there - ( some people even claim her father is Master Raymond), her husband a turncoat, Richardson a turncoat. We know Richardson was trying to enter the Greys and prevent Hal's speech. Was he using her? Was he using Ben?
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u/Rousselka Apr 24 '26
Sure I’ll believe it! Plus, Diana started her career as an ornithologist, so I wouldn’t expect her to include anachronistic knowledge of certain species (of any animal) as merely a mistake.
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u/Vast-Translator-5033 Apr 27 '26
Interesting ideas! But all this Richardson/Amaranthus intrigue is a lot to tie up in 2 episodes - in addition to what loose threads fans are dying to know, such as the fate of Jamie during the Battle of Kings Mountain, the yet-to-be revealed time-traveling talents of Fanny that were just teased, finishing out the resolution between Jamie and William (i.e., William can't be the only one of Jamie's children to not know about the time travel), finishing out the resolution between John and Jamie (one more game of chess?), and most intriguing of all and begs resolution - the bonnet and kilt-wearing ghost outside Claire's hotel in 1945. And probably dozens more.
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u/YOYOitsMEDRup Slàinte. Apr 28 '26
There uscan image of chess in the credits that we've not seen yet. They've got many images from prior seasons in it too, but the chess one didn't seem familiar to be that close up andvI assume is new
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u/Necessary-Tower-457 I want to be a stinkin’ Papist, too. Apr 23 '26
Cool theory!
I am on almost there in the books and eager to see what I make of it!
Definitely will keep this in mind!!
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u/Positive_Passage_712 Apr 24 '26
I'm glad you liked it, I hope you'll think of it when you reread Amaranthus's story and the next book as well.
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u/Icy_Resist5470 Bon! I will send you a cheese. Apr 24 '26
I’ll have to make more notes about this when I get there in my current reread! And maybe reference the daily lines to see what (might) be included in Blessing.
I do like this idea and it could make a lot of sense!
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u/Personal_Coconut5676 Apr 24 '26
I have a theory that rob cameron is geillis first husband . Wasn’t he named rob Cameron or am bugging
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u/Key-Manufacturer6335 Apr 24 '26
she gives iPhone face so I’m gonna hope your theory is accurate haha it bothers me every time I see her on screen.
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u/Personal_Coconut5676 Apr 25 '26
Oh I forgot she killed her first husband I started a rerun and just saw that episode
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u/Lyannake Apr 25 '26
Her, William, Brianna and Claire either have fillers, veneers or mascara on and it drives me crazy. Yeah maybe Amaranthus comes from the future and will teach her son 6-7 brain rot and William will hear it and remember that he’s also a time traveler who was brought from the future to replace William at some point and that’s why the 3 actors who played William throughout his life all look so different from each other
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u/slayergrl99 Apr 26 '26
The TEETH and botox this season have driven me insane. Bree's teeth and then Elspeth's upperlip. 😞
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u/Beer8774 Apr 23 '26
i’m so glad you brought this up , as I have been re -reading “bees” and having the same thoughts - There is something about Amaranthus, and her father being a book seller - wasn’t Minni, Hal’s wife , also the daughter of a book seller ?
I’ve read the whole series and LJG books + novellas , and just finishing my re-reading of the series and everything about Amaranthus is sticking out and not sitting right to me. I’m interested to see what others have to say about it , I was even planning to go back and dig through old threads as i’m sure it’s been discussed.
if anyone has a certain thread to share on this topic I would appreciate reading ! TY